After months of several court cases, controversial disputes and
posting "Vote Yes" or "Vote No to Wards" signs around the city and
University, Empower Our Neighborhoods and Unite New Brunswick will
have to wait an extra day to get the full results of the ward-based
system question.

Due to a large number of absentee and provisional ballots that
have not been counted yet, the winning vote cannot yet be
determined, New Brunswick City Spokesman Bill Bray said.

As of about 8:45 p.m. last night, the "No to Wards" vote is
prevailing, with 2,135 "no" votes versus 1,756 "Yes to Wards"
votes, Bray said.

"The ‘yes' vote has been prevailing on campus and in one or two
[election] districts," he said. "But elsewhere, the ‘no' vote is
prevailing."

Photo: Brendan McInerney

EON Executive Board Members Martha Guarnieri, left, and Charlie
Kratovil, right, wait for election ballots to be counted yesterday
in the city clerk's office.

EON's question calls for the ward-based system of six wards each
with representatives and three council members voted at-large,
while UNB would like the city's government to remain as is.

UNB member Kyle Kirkpatrick said although he is pleased the "no"
vote is ahead, he is not going to get his hopes up until all of the
ballots are officially counted.

"I'm on pins and needles here. I do want to remain optimistic
right now," Kirkpatrick said. "Neither side is claiming victory
right now. We really believe that voting ‘no' is the right thing
for the city. We hope that voters express that in the poll."

EON President Martha Guarnieri said she is upset the results are
not in yet after all the anticipation the organization was building
up but will remain hopeful.

"We don't know [who the winner is] yet," said Guarnieri, a
Rutgers College senior. "But I'm hopeful that all of our energy put
into the early vote operation pays off and that those ballots are
counted fairly."

She said she is glad to know many University students voted for
wards, but she is afraid of voter fraud.

"I'm proud that the students came out and voted for wards,"
Guarnieri said. "[But] it wasn't a fair game today."

School of Arts and Sciences junior Robert Irven said he voted
for a ward-based system because it would help the residents of the
city have a voice and a person to adequately represent them,
especially students who live off campus.

"I voted for [wards] because I live off campus, so to have
someone to represent us and our problems would be better than just
having one person from the city council represent us," Irven said.
"[The ward representative's] main job is to serve us."

But some students argue a ward-based system would only represent
University students, not any of the long-term city residents.

The residents who have been living in the city for a long time
and plan on staying in the city deserve to have a say over
University students, who come and go, said Rutgers College senior
Sarah Waniak.

"The people who are working to change [the system to a
ward-based one] are probably going to end up leaving and the people
who are going to see the consequences … are going to be the
residents of New Brunswick, who kind of have contempt for Rutgers
students who are trying to take control of their city," Waniak
said.

UNB member Ezra Rufino said the ward-based system would give
priority to the students.

"By dividing the city up, wards are not going to be working with
each other … or working with the city as a whole as they should
be," said Rufino, a Rutgers College senior. "We're segregating
ourselves as students from the rest of the New Brunswick
community."

School of Engineering senior Dincer Dinc said he was unsure
whether to vote "yes" or "no" to wards, because although he heard a
lot about the ward question, he did not want to base his decision
off what he read on campaign advertisements.

"I haven't read up on anything enough to know what to vote for,"
Dinc said.

Waniak said having ward representatives would create more
bureaucracy and political crime.

"It would create more ‘I'll scratch your back if you scratch
mine' among our representatives, as opposed to having them all work
together for the greater good of New Brunswick as a whole," she
said.

Rutgers College senior Michelle Shen said she respects the
vision of EON, but creating a ward-based system is not going to
help members reach their goals to have the New Brunswick community
represented well.

"We understand their goals and what they're trying to achieve,
but we don't think that having their ward system is going to
achieve that," Shen said.

Kirkpatrick said it is unfortunate for both UNB and EON members
that they were unable to get the results on time.

"I imagine that it's sad for both parties involved," he said.
"You obviously want to know if you accomplished what you wanted to
accomplish."

EON began campaigning for a ward-based system about a year ago
to change the at-large system in the city to a ward-based system
with six wards representatives and three council members elected
at-large, arguing the new system would help students and the New
Brunswick community receive better representation and more
individualized attention.

The opposing group, UNB, was formed during the summer and had a
petition approved to increase city government to a larger at-large
system, electing seven members to the city council as opposed to
the current five members. They argued that wards would increase
taxes and crime, and would segregate the city.

But this petition, approved by New Brunswick City Clerk Dan
Torrisi, was brought before Judge James Hurley and overturned in
September, arguing the petition was improperly approved.